Easter holiday disruption at Gatwick airport as operations workers strike over pensions and 'late payments'

Gatwick Airport could be hit with major disruption over the Easter holidays as hundreds of workers are set to go on strike. Baggage handlers and flight dispatchers from Red Handling Staff will take industrial action at the UK’s second biggest airport over several issues, including unpaid pensions, late payments and “illegal” shift patterns, the Unite union has announced. Delta, TAP, Air Peace and Norwegian Airlines could be hit by the strike action, with around 50 flights a day are expected to be disrupted during one of the busiest periods of the year so far. Holiday goers travelling over the Easter weekend may face flight delays, cancellations, and long queues at check-in and baggage delays. Unite members are in dispute over numerous issues, with the most pressing being the continued mishandling of the company pension scheme which has been going on for over a year. The union has said that workers have found their payments have been missing or incorrect, while some employees have not even had pension schemes set up for them. Staff at Red Handling have also said they have been “routinely” paid late. Employees say they have been paid late three times in the last year, with some workers waiting for wages for up to two weeks.<br/>